Feeding and smoothing attachment for flatwork ironer



Nov. 29, 1966 D MAZZQLLA 3,287,838

FEEDING AND SMOO'I'HING ATTACHMENT FOR FLATWORK IRONER Filed July 29, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV NTOR. H 9411/ D. 4220;

' roe/vs) Nov. 29, 1966 D. MAZZOLLA 3,287,838

FEEDING AND SMOOTHING ATTACHMENT FOR FLATWORK IRONER Filed July 29, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 17,4 17. M422 LLA United States Patent Ofifice 3,287,838 Patented Nov. 29, 1966 3,287,838 FEEDING AND SMOOTHING ATTACHMENT FOR FLATWORK IRONER Dan D. Mazzolla, 2464 Raleigh Drive, York, Pa. Filed July 29, 1965, Ser. No. 475,672 8 Claims. (Cl. 38-143) This invention pertains to a feeding and smoothing attachment which readily may be connected to a flatwork ironer of the industrial or commercial type which principally embodies a series of large sized ironing rolls movable with respect to complementary concavities in a steam chest. Pieces of damp flatwork, such as sheets, pillow cases, table cloths and the like, are moved by said rollers over the concave surfaces of the steam chest to iron and incidentally dry the damp pieces prior to the same being folded in finished condition.

Ironers of such type also usually employ a feed apron which generally comprises a series of endless belts arranged in side-by-side relationship and mounted directly adjacent the entrance of the ironer for purposes of having the leading ends of flatwork pieces, which have been transversely stretched, placed upon the feed apron for movement thereby into the ironer. One or more finger rolls usually are employed in conjunction with the feed apron to insure frictional engagement between the flatwork pieces and the feed apron.

For many years, it has been necessary to employ a number of operators to prepare flatwork pieces for feeding to an ironer of the type referred to. By way of example, it is not infrequent to require several operators to separate the twisted and snarled pieces as they are re moved from an extractor which leaves them in damp condition. Several other operators are required to shake out the individual pieces to straighten them and also fold them into quarters of their length in order to prepare them for introduction into the ironer by several addi tional Workers.

The feeding of such flatwork pieces into an ironer by the pair of workers who stand at opposite sides of the entrance end of the ironer just forwardly of the feed apron must hold the leading end of a flatwork piece as taut as possible transversely while placing it against the feed apron for immediate movement beneath the finger rolls. As the piece is progressively fed by the feed apron to the ironer, these same workers must let the opposite edges of the piece slide between their fingers while attempting to transversely stretch and smooth the piece until the trailing end passes into the ironer. Usually however, the trailing end can not be held taut because of the fact that the workers should not be subjected to having their fingers pass under the finger rolls. Further, the trailing end of a flatwork piece frequently flaps to a certain extent, sometimes extending over upon itself and this results in a wrinkled trailing end.

To obviate the foregoing difficulties, the applicant of the present invention devised a feeding and smoothing device comprising the subject matter of Patent No. 3,145,- 491, dated August 25, 1964, the principal purpose of which was to provide auxiliary means for transversely stretching flatwork pieces as delivered to an industrial ironer. This device is intended to be mounted adjacent the front of the feed apron of an ironer and also includes suction means operable in conjunction with the spiral rollers to stretch the flatwork pieces longitudinally, in the direction of their movement. In general, such device performs in a highly satisfactory manner with one exception. This is in regard to suitably stretching and smoothing the trailing ends of flatwork pieces. In an effort to at least attempt to provide some sort of means 1 to handle the trailing ends of flatwork pieces, the device comprising the subject matter of said patent includes a transversely extending bar between the front of the feed apron and the spiral rollers and having friction means thereon to engage the undersurface of a flatwork piece just prior to it passing under the finger roll of the feed apron. However, through use, it has been found that such stationary friction means does not operate to the desired degree. Accordingly, after substantial experimentation and trials of various devices, the apparatus comprising the subject matter of the present application was devised.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a feeding and smoothing attachment for flatwork ironers disposed adjacent the front end of the feed apron of an industrial ironer and comprising movable belt means having their operative surface substantially within the plane in which flatwork pieces are introduced to the feed apron of such ironer, the belt means being of a frictional nature engageable with the undersurfaces of said flatwork pieces and said belt means are movable in opposite directions respectively to stretch and smooth the flatwork pieces transversely to the direction of movement thereof into the iorner while also imposing a longitudinal drag upon the flatwork pieces and especially upon the trailing ends thereof just prior to the same passing under the finger roll on the feed apron, whereby the trailing ends are not only stretched longitudinally but, in particular, are stretched transversely up until substantially the last moment before they pass under the finger rolls.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a pair of endless belts suitably mounted on supporting rollers so as to comprise said belt means referred to above, the upper courses of said belt means extending from substantially midway of the space between the opposite edges of the feed apron and the outer ends of said effective surfaces of the belt means being substantially coextensive with the opposite edges of the feed apron, and suitable drive means are provided to move said'upper courses of said belt means respectively in opposite directions toward the opposite edges of said feed apron.

A further object of the invention is to provide appropriate frame means to support said belt means and the rollers around which they pass in such manner that the position of the upper courses of the belt means in particular may be disposed at different angular relationship with respect to the plane of the feed apron so as to effect maximum efliciency in the engagement of said belt means with flatwork pieces as the same move onto the feed apron and beneath the finger roll.

Still another object of the invention is to provide effective drive means having self-tensioning interconnections with the friction belts so as to provide maximum efficiency in said drive means.

Details of the foregoing objects and of the invention, as well as other objects thereof, are set forth in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying dnawings comprising a part thereof.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a transversely foreshortened side elevational view of an exemplary flatwork ironer illustrated somewhat diagrammatic-ally with respect to the various belts and the feed apron, and also illustrating a feeding and smoothing attachment embodied in the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, transversely foreshortened plan view of the attachment shown in FIG. 1 which embodies the principles of the invention and illustrating a fragmentary portion of the front end of the feed apron of the ironer shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentarily illustrated and transversely foreshortened front elevation of a portion of the attach- 3 ment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, as seen on the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional elevation of the attachment illustrated in the preceding figures as seen on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional elevation of bracket members, as seen on the line 5-5 of FIG. 2 and showing another embodiment of supporting means for part of the attachment shown in the preceding figures.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view and partial horizontal section of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5 as seen on the line 66 of said figure.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of an exemplary configuration of frictional surface on belt means employed in the attachment illustrated in the preceding figures.

Referring to FIG. 1, wherein an exemplary ironer 10 is shown in exemplary manner and also foreshortened to accommodate the same to the sheet, it will be seen that a steam chest 12 has a plurality of concavities in the upper surface thereof relative to which driven ironing rolls 14 are disposed for purposes of moving pieces of fiatwork from the entrance 16 beneath all of the rolls 14 and then, by a series of belts 18, the fiatwork pieces are carried reversely beneath the chest 12, toward the entrance end and then again are reversed to be discharged at the exit 20. By the time the ironed pieces have traversed this circuit, they are substantially dry and are in condition to be folded.

The present invention is concerned with the entrance end of the ironer 10 and particularly the endless feed apron 22 which, as seen in FIG. 2, especially, comprises a series of belts aranged in closely spaced relationship to operate substantially as a continuous web transversely.

The feed apron 22 is driven by a large, main roll 24, in counter-clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1, to move the upper course of the feed apron toward the entrance 16. Adjacent the front end of the feed apron 22, which is at the right-hand end as viewed in FIG. 1, is a forward finger roll 26 and an additional finger roll 28. The feed apron moves around a stationary bar 30 against which the gravity-supported finger rolls press for purposes of holding fiatwork pieces against the upper surface of the apron 22 for delivery to the entrance 16 of the ironer.

Idler roll 31 also partially supports feed apron 22. At the right-hand end of the ironer shown in FIG. 1, there also is illustrated an attachment 32, a substantial part of which comprises the invention shown and claimed in said aforementioned Patent 3,145,491. This attachment comprises box-like fixed supports 34 which are stationarily mounted upon the floor which supports the ironer 10. These supports respectively are adjacent opposite ends of the feed apron 22. Extending between the supporting plates 36 of the supports 34, which comprise part of frame means for the present invention, are several spreading rolls 38 which are rotatably driven about fixed axes, said rolls having opposite spiralling projections or ribs fixed thereon, the same preferably spiralling in opposite directions from the mid-portion of said rolls.

Also extending between the supporting plates 36 is a vacuum box 42 having suction slots 44 therein, said box being connected to an appropriate source of suction, not shown, such as a suitable blower or fan. T o appreciate the various levels at which the spreading rolls 38 and vacuum box 42 are arranged with respect to each other, attention is directed to FIGS. 1 and 4.

The present invention is concerned with the provision of friction belt means 46 which, as best shown in FIGS: 1, 2 and 4, are disposed between the front end of the feed apron 22 and the spreading roll 38 which is nearest said feed apron. Though a friction bar 156 is illustrated in said aforementioned Patent 3,145,491 between the feed apron shown in said patent and the nearest spiral roll 58 thereto, it has been found that utilizing movable friction belts provides a far superior means to the stationary bar shown in said patent for a number of purposes. Among these purposes is augmenting the spreading effect of the spiral spreading rolls 38 shown in the present drawing, as well as affording a superior type of longitudinal drag for the flatwork pieces as fed to the feed apron 22, particularly the trailing ends thereof which, as the same approach the forward feed roll 26, are released by the operators to prevent pinching their fingers beneath the finger rolls. Further, in accordance with the preferred operation of the spreading rolls 38 and the suction box 42, it primarily is only necessary to stretch the leading end of an exemplary fiatwork piece 48, as shown in FIG. 4, and drape the same over the suction box 42, spreading rolls 38, belt means 46, and onto the feed belt 22 for engagement beneath the finger roll 26 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, and then the operators may reach for the next fiatwork piece to begin to prepare it for introduction into the ironer. Thus, in accordance with the preferred operation of the device, it is no longer necessary for the feeding operators to continue to stretch the sheet transversely while it slides between their fingers longitudinally.

In view of the foregoing, it can be appreciated that by the time the trailing end of a flatwork piece has passed in feeding direction from the vacuum box 42 and spreading rolls 38, it is, as it were, on its own and the stationary friction bar of said aforementioned patent oifered little assistance in suitably handling the trailing end prior to its engagement by the forward finger roll 26.

According to the present invention however, the provision of the friction belt means 46, which comprises a pair of endless belts 50 having a suitably roughened outer surface, one example of which is illustrated in suggestive manner only in FIG. 7, highly effective friction means engage the undersurface of a flatwork piece and especially the trailing end thereof to a very substantial degree. In actual construction, the belts 50 are of the order of approximately 3 inches wide but this dimension is not to be regarded as restrictive. Thus, the undersurfaces of the fiatwork pieces are subjected to a very substantial frictional area which, rather than being stationary, is movable and the belts 50 respectively move in opposite directions toward the opposite edges of the feed apron 22, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 3.

The frame means which support the belt means 46 are arranged in several embodiments in the present illustration of this application. One embodiment is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, wherein 'a pair of U-shaped brackets 52 and 54 respectively are supported by the plates 36 of the fixed supports 34 at opposite sides of the entrance under the ironer. The brackets 54, which are below the brackets 52, preferably are connected to the plates 36 by means of bolts extending through vertical slots 56, see FIG. 3, which permit limited vertical adjustment of the brackets 54 to effect tightening of the belts 50.

The frame means for said belt means also includes a transverse frame member 58 from which a bracket 60 extends upwardly to support suitably spaced plates 62 between which freely rotatable rollers 64 are mounted. These rollers are similar to the rollers 64 supported by the upper U-shaped brackets 52 for movement about fixed axes. The brackets 54 however, support tensioning rollers 66 which, in addition, also are driving rollers in that they are connected by means of a suitable sheave 68 which is fixed tothe shaft of rollers 66. Appropriate power means such as electric motors 70 respectively are provided for each of the belts 50, these motors having sheaves 72 which, by means of V-belt 74, drive the sheaves 68 and the combination tensioning and driving rollers 66'.

The motors 70 preferably are supported upon appropriate plates 76 which preferably are pivotally connected to the supporting plates 36 of fixed supports 34 whereby the weight of the motor maintains its V-belt 74 tensioned to provide eificient frictional driving of the roller 66 at all times.

In the preferred construction of the supporting means for the belts 50, the axes of the rollers 64 which are supported by the spaced plate 62 are slightly higher than the axes of the rollers 64 within the upper brackets 52 at opposite sides of the device. In actual practice, it is found that this additional distance should be of the order of about /2 inch, whereby the adjacent ends of the belt, intermediately of the sides of the device, are approximately /2 inch above the level of the outer ends of the upper courses of the belts 50, thereby insuring positive driving engagement of the belts with the intermediate portions of the flatwork piece-s riding over the same and frictionally engaged thereby. Otherwise, in the preferred arrangement of the device, especially as shown somewhat diagrammatically in FIG. 4, the upper surfaces of the horizontal upper courses of the belts, are only slightly above a plane extending between the adjacent spreading rolls 38 and the upper surface of the feed apron 22, as can be detected in FIG. 4, thereby insuring adequate frictional engagement of the flatwork piece with the belts 50, both at the intermediate portions thereof as well as at the ends.

Another embodiment for supporting the rollers 64 and 66 for the belts 50 is illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, wherein, rather than mounting the brackets 52 and 54 upon supporting plates 36 of the fixed supports 34, said brackets are mounted upon additional elongated brackets 78 which, for example, very appropriately might comprise structural channel members of appropriate length. The upper ends of these channels are supported by short pivot bolts 80, which are welded at the inner ends thereto, said bolts extending through appropriate holes in the plates 36 at opposite sides of the device. Adjacent the lower end of elongated brackets 78 is a hole 82 through which a locking bolt, having a wing nut thereon, if desired, extends as well as through one of an arcuate series of holes 84 formed in the lower portion of the plates 36. By such arrangement, the desired level or slight angular pitch of the upper courses of the belts 50, which may be found preferable in any particular spreading or smoothing attachment, may be determined by pivotally moving the frame structure which includes the vertical brackets 78, about the axes of the pivot bolts 80. Upon determining the desired position, an appropriate locking bolt is inserted through the hole 82 in the brackets 78 and then can be threaded into an aligned hole 84 in the plate 36, said holes 84 preferably being tapped for that purpose. It also will be understood that the transverse frame member 58 will extend between and be suitably connected to the vertical brackets 78, by welding or the like in this embodiment of the invention.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention provides a relatively simple yet highly effective means for engaging flatwork pieces as they are moved into the entrance of a flatwork ironer not only for purposes of spreading the pieces transversely and enhancing other spreading means embodied in the attachment with which the present invention is closely associated, but the friction means provided by the present invention also imparts additional longitudinal tensioning and smoothing to the flatwork pieces. More importantly however, the tensioning means results in much smoother trailing ends being provided on the flatwork pieces as they enter the ironer and correspondingly, as they are discharged therefrom, than has heretofore been possible with other available structures, including that in applicants own prior Patent No. 3,145,491.

While the invention has been described and illustrated in its several preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the precise details herein illustrated and described since the same may be carried out in other ways falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. A smoothing and feeding attachment for a flatwork ironer provided with ironing rolls and a feed apron at the entrance of said ironer, said attachment comprising frame means arranged to be mounted adjacent the forward end of said feed apron, rolls supported by said frame means for rotation about axes parallel to each other and said forward end of said feed apron and substantially horizontally even therewith, said rolls having oppositely spiralling projecting ribs thereon operable to spread flatwork pieces transversely toward the opposite ends of said rolls to smooth the same transversely prior to passing the same to said feed apron, means to drive said rolls to effect such spreading, means mounted upon said frame forwardly of said rolls in position to be engaged frictionally by flatwork passing to said rolls and operable to impose Ion-gitudinal tension upon flatwork to smooth it longitudinally, friction belt means supported by said frame means with the upper surfaces of upper courses thereof substantially parallel to and level with the upper surface of said feed apron adjacent the front of the same and rearwardly to said rolls, said upper courses of said belt means being mounted for movement in opposite directions away from each other toward the opposite edges of said feed apron, and means interengaging said belt means to drive said upper courses thereof away from each other substantially at equal speeds, whereby said upper courses are engageable with the undersurfaces of flat-work pieces as fed to said feed apron to supplement the transverse spreading action of said rolls and simultaneously impose a final drag upon the trailing ends of flatwork pieces prior to moving to said feed apron to insure straight trailing ends being fed to an ironer by said feed apron.

2. The ironer attachment according to claim 1 in which said belt means comprise a pair of similar endless belts and including rollers supported by said frame means and around which said belts extend for support.

3. The ironer attachment according to claim 2 further including a take-up roller for each belt movably supported by said frame means for tightening of said belt means, and said drive means comprising a motor interconnected to said take-up rollers to drive said belts.

4. The ironer attachment according to claim 3 in which a separate motor is provided to drive each belt, said motors being positioned respectively adjacent opposite sides of said frame means at a level below said take-up rollers, mounts for said motors supported movably by said frame means, and endless flexible drive means between said motors and take-up drive rollers, the weight of said motors being operable to maintain said flexible drive means tightened to insure driving said rollers and be ts.

5. The ironer attachment according to claim 2 in which said frame means is substantially coextensive in width with said feed apron and includes a member extending transversely between the opposite sides of said frame means, and a support on said transverse member intermediately of the ends thereof supporting a pair of rollers adjacent each other around which adjacent ends of said endless belts extend for support.

6. The ironer attachment according to claim 5 in which said frame means also includes fixed supports adjacent the opposite ends of said feed apron, vertical brackets respectively movably supported by said supports, certain of said rollers being supported by said bracket means and said transverse member of said frame means extending between and carried by said vertical brackets, whereby said brackets may be moved relative to said fixed supports to vary the angle of the upper courses of said belts relative to the feed apron to effect efiicient engagement of flatwork pieces by said belts to stretch and smooth the same as fed to said feed apron.

7. The ironer attachment according to claim 6 in which said vertical brackets are pivotally connected to said frame means adjacent the upper ends thereof, and also including adjustable securing means between said frame means and the vertical brackets below said pivotal connections to maintain said brackets and the belts supported thereby in adjusted position relative to said feed apron.

8. The ironer attachment according to claim 5 in which the adjacent rollers supported by said transverse frame member are positioned relative to the upper rollers at the opposite ends of said frame means so as to dispose the adjacent ends of said belts at a higher level than the outer m References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,585,834 2/ 1952 Pocock 38143 3,153,291 10/1964 Buss 38-143 3,174,238 3/1965 Grantham 38143 3,198,516 8/1965 Withorn et a1 38-143 X FOREIGN PATENTS 957,095 5/ 1964 Great Britain.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SMOOTHING AND FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR A FLATWORK IRONER PROVIDED WITH IRONING ROLLS AND A FEED APRON AT THE ENTRANCE OF SAID IRONER, SAID ATTACHMENT COMPRISING FRAME MEANS ARRANGED TO BE MOUNTED ADJACENT THE FORWARD END OF SAID FEED APRON, ROLLS SUPPORTED BY SAID FRAME MEANS FOR ROTATION ABOUT AXES PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER AND SAID FORWARD END OF SAID FEED APRON AND SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTALLY EVEN THEREWITH, SAID ROLLS HAVING OPPOSITELY SPIRALLING PROJECTING RIBS THEREON OPERABLE TO SPREAD FLATWORK PIECES TRANSVERSELY TOWARD THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID ROLLS TO SMOOTH THE SAME TRANSVERSELY PRIOR TO PASSING THE SAME TO SAID FEED APRON, MEANS TO DRIVE SAID ROLLS TO EFFECT SUCH SPREADING, MEANS MOUNTED UPON SAID FRAME FORWARDLY OF SAID ROLLS IN POSITION TO BE ENGAGED FRICTIONALLY BY FLATWORK PASSING TO SAID ROLLS AND OPERABLE TO IMPOSE LONGITUDINAL TENSION UPON FLATWORK TO SMOOTH IT LONGITUDINALLY, FRICTION BELT MEANS SUPPORTED BY SAID FRAME MEANS WITH THE UPPER SURFACES OF UPPER COURSES THEREOF SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO AND LEVEL WITH THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID FEED APRON ADJACENT THE FRONT OF THE SAME AND BELT MEANS BEING SAID ROLLS, SAID UPPER COURSES OF SAID BELT MEANS BEING MOUNTED FOR MOVEMENT IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS AWAY FROM EACH OTHER TOWARD THE OPPOSITE EDGES OF SAID FEED APRON, AND MEANS INTERENGAGING SAID BELT MEANS TO DRIVE SAID UPPER COURSES THEREOF AWAY FROM EACH OTHER SUBSTANTIALLY AT EQUAL SPEEDS, WHEREBY SAID UPPER COURSES ARE ENGAGEABLE WITH THE UNDERSURFACES OF FLATWORK PIECES AS FED TO SAID FEED APRON TO SUPPLEMENT THE TRANSVERSE SPREADING ACTION OF SAID ROLLS AND SIMULTANEOUSLY IMPOSE A FINAL DRAG UPON THE TRAILING ENDS OF FLATWORK PIECES PRIOR TO MOVING TO SAID FEED APRON TO INSURE STRAIGHT TRAILING ENDS BEING FED TO AN IRONERLY BY SAID FEED APRON. 